13 Jun Finding Peace By Letting Go of the Scale

All I wanted was peace, and all I had was chaos. My life felt so stressed out and I was increasingly unhappy. I thought I was the only woman who felt that way, but through my coaching and connecting with other women, I’ve found that stress and chaos is a common part of our of our lives.

..

Stress and Your Weight

We know from scientific studies that stress has a direct effect on weight, but I think that dieting and weight play a huge part on our stress! It’s like a never-ending cycle! Our stress affects our weight, then our weight gain causes more stress, and that stress leads to more weight gain!

So, how do we lower our stress? The biggest way I believe we can lower stress is to stop getting on the scale. When I let go of dieting and the scale, my stress lowered A LOT. I mean significant change. The peace of God flooded my heart when my biggest focus wasn’t on my weight. Now, don’t get me wrong, letting go of dieting and the scale doesn’t mean I eat junk food all the time. In fact, it’s exactly the opposite.

Mindful Eating

When you begin to consider your health as more than a number on the scale, you begin to make healthy choices, and not because some book or diet guru is telling you to. You begin to make healthy choices because you are listening to your body more closely. When we let go of the scale and begin to listen to these incredibly smart bodies that God has given us, we’re able to distinguish hunger from a craving. God’s way of eating isn’t about stress or strict diet rules, it’s about peace and freedom.

Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27)

God’s way of eating isn’t like the impossible promises that diets give. He offers peace. I used to think that peace was reserved to my spiritual and emotional life, but it applies to every part of my life, especially my health. Anytime I would begin a diet, I wouldn’t have peace, it would be a constant rollercoaster that always ended in failure. That was exactly opposite of what God wanted for me. He wanted peace for me…and He wants peace for YOU, too.

My Challenge for you…

Can I encourage you today to let go of the chaos? To let go of the stress that comes when you jump from one diet to another to another…to another.

Can I give you a challenge? Just for one week, I want you to let go of the scale and follow your God-given hunger and fullness signals.

To help you out, I’ve created a Mindful Eating checklist! It has some simple questions to ask yourself before eating so you can be sure that you’re eating with intention and clarity.